I read a review recently about someone who broke the tip off his Rock Creek Sable knife while batoning.
Although I almost never use that method to make firewood, it still bothered me, as I already own two other Rock Creek knives, and they seemed to be excellently made and finished. The reviewer either stated or implied ( I don't recall which right now) that the steel used in the knife was probably at fault.
Rock Creek knives use a proprietary steel made by Hanwei, of Dalian China. The edge has a hardness of 58-60 RC, and the blade is 1/4 in. thick from the hilt, to within 1 in. from the tip.
This seemed like it would make a fairly decent knife for batoning to me, and it bothered me that his knife would break as it did. It made me wonder if the steel used was actually inferior in some way, so I ordered one.
The first thing I did after it arrived, was to take it out back, and put it to work making firewood. I batoned with it, paying special attention to hitting the very tip of the knife as often a possible.
If it was going to break, I wanted it to do so in my backyard, instead of on and outing in the wilderness.
I made a small pile of kindling. Just enough to ease my mind that the knife could take it if it had to.
I don't use this method myself, so this small pile was sufficient for me. I tried chopping with it next.
I have to say that this knife is not a good chopper. Blade dynamics probably. It's just too light.
It came extremely sharp out of the box. I cut up some cardboard boxes, and it worked just fine. After all that, it is still sharp enough to cut computer paper with ease.
I think this knife is just fine. I'm glad I got it. Personally, I think it's more of a hunting knife, than a camping or survival knife, although I'm sure it could be used for camping and survival if you had to.
Some pictures:
Although I almost never use that method to make firewood, it still bothered me, as I already own two other Rock Creek knives, and they seemed to be excellently made and finished. The reviewer either stated or implied ( I don't recall which right now) that the steel used in the knife was probably at fault.
Rock Creek knives use a proprietary steel made by Hanwei, of Dalian China. The edge has a hardness of 58-60 RC, and the blade is 1/4 in. thick from the hilt, to within 1 in. from the tip.
This seemed like it would make a fairly decent knife for batoning to me, and it bothered me that his knife would break as it did. It made me wonder if the steel used was actually inferior in some way, so I ordered one.
The first thing I did after it arrived, was to take it out back, and put it to work making firewood. I batoned with it, paying special attention to hitting the very tip of the knife as often a possible.
If it was going to break, I wanted it to do so in my backyard, instead of on and outing in the wilderness.
I made a small pile of kindling. Just enough to ease my mind that the knife could take it if it had to.
I don't use this method myself, so this small pile was sufficient for me. I tried chopping with it next.
I have to say that this knife is not a good chopper. Blade dynamics probably. It's just too light.
It came extremely sharp out of the box. I cut up some cardboard boxes, and it worked just fine. After all that, it is still sharp enough to cut computer paper with ease.
I think this knife is just fine. I'm glad I got it. Personally, I think it's more of a hunting knife, than a camping or survival knife, although I'm sure it could be used for camping and survival if you had to.
Some pictures: